updated 10:45 am EST, Thu February 11, 2010

Nazomi says Kindle, Zune violate patents

California-based Nazomi late yesterday sued several tech firms, including Amazon, Microsoft and Nokia, for allegedly violating patents it owns on translating Java code to specific devices. Filed in a Los Angeles court, the lawsuit complains that the three main firms as well as Garmin, Iomega, Sling, Vizio and Western Digital all have devices that supposedly copy its techniques. These include the Kindle and Zune as well as less common devices like the Slingbox or Nokia's tablet computers.

The company hopes to land a permanent ban on these devices selling in the US without royalty payouts and is also seeking damages for the "irreparable injury" done by supporting Java on these devices.

Such broadly-aimed lawsuits are often used by small companies to boost their competitive stance against larger firms rather than to address actual patent infringement. However, unlike some such suits, Nazomi has its own device and sells the JSTAR, a co-processor specifically designed to speed up Java on portable and otherwise devices that might not have enough performance on their own. The four-person outlet had unsuccessfully tried to sue ARM in 2007 over a similar dispute.